Credibility is key when it comes to matrimonial litigation – from your initial filing through the last day of trial. In our practice, we can often make educated guesses of the range for equitable distribution and alimony from the initial consultation based upon the many statutory factors that a court has to consider and some
Appellate Division Reverses Trial Court’s Denial of Payor’s Motion to Terminate Alimony in Unique Cohabitation Scenario
Demonstrating yet again that cohabitation cases are almost always a creature of their specific facts and circumstances, the Appellate Division in the recently unpublished, Salvatore v. Salvatore, reversed a trial court’s decision denying a payor former husband’s motion to terminate his alimony obligation based on his payee former wife’s cohabitation in a manner defined
Does the Change in the Tax Law Kill the Mythical Alimony “Formula”
As I wrote in December, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted at the end of last year, changed the taxability of alimony starting in 2019. Specifically, while alimony is currently income to the recipient and deductible from the income of the payor, for agreements and judgments entered after December 31, 2018, that will no
Appellate Division Issues New Decision on Cohabitation
In the midst of our ongoing quest for guidance as to how and when to apply the 2014 cohabitation statute, comes the Appellate Division’s recent unpublished (not precedential) decision in J.S. v. J.M. While the decision does not reveal much in the way of noteworthy substance beyond what we have already seen in other post-statute
Appellate Division Denies Cohabitation Claim Under Alimony Statute
While we await guidance from the Appellate Division on how to interpret that portion of the amended alimony statute’s cohabitation provision, N.J.S.A. 2A:32-23n, indicating that alimony may be “suspended or terminated” in the event of a payee former spouse’s cohabitation, and whether the pre-statute “economic benefits” test remains alive and well, we are seeing newer
Appellate Division Confirms that Alimony Cannot be Judicially Determined with a Formula
One of the most common questions posed by clients is – how is alimony determined? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that question, and it is often dependent upon the facts and circumstances of a given matter. The law does not provide for a formula, even in the final version of the amended alimony
The New Year’s Resolution Divorce
For many divorce attorneys, the busy season starts after the first of the year. For the last several years, I have posted on the phenomenon of the New Year’s Resolution Divorce. For whatever reason, this post has struck a chord and has been both well received and cited by other bloggers. As such, given that
Will 2018 Be the Year of the Divorce – Will The New Tax Laws Cause A Race to Get Divorced By 12/31/18?
Since the first go round of the proposed massive revisions to the tax code were announced several weeks ago, matrimonial lawyers, litigants, accountants, etc. have been in a veritable tizzy over the prospect that one of the modifications was to eliminate the deductibility of alimony payments by the payer and the includability of the payments
A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT RETAINING YOUR DIVORCE LAWYER
As a matrimonial litigant, you never want to feel that your lawyer does not know how best to take you through the divorce or post-divorce process. After spending substantial sums of money on an advocate to aid you through a difficult and emotional process, let’s just say that “the blind leading the blind” is not
Alimony Obligors May Find Relief for Decreased Income Under New Statute
It’s a story as old as time in the New Jersey courts. Alimony is set based upon the income of parties to a divorce, but then years later, a spouse loses his or her job and is unable to continue to make the agreed upon or ordered payments. What is a Court to do?
In